The People's House

Monday and Tuesday of this week were spent inside Washington, DC. 

On day one, we rode atop one of those incredibly touristy, obnoxiously red, double-decker tour buses. (Which we later found out have decapitated several people by way of low lying branches.) Fortunately for us, we had the foresight to duck beneath any of these branches and prevent out noggins from being swiped off. That would not be pretty. Anyways, we saw the incredibly tall Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, as well as Arlington National Cemetery. In complete explanation of the first- it was enormously tall. For the next- he was ginormous. (Which should be a word) And of the latter- wow. We were unable to attain tickets to get to the top of the Washington Monument but, I did get some lovely shots of it from the ground. (check out the pics page, it’s actually updated!) The Lincoln Memorial was spectacular. Dad had Zach run up the steps to the top but hopefully, this won’t mean he’s becoming the next Rocky! As for Arlington, it is exceedingly large and incredibly easy to get lost in. We tromped around for about an hour searching for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. If you have never been to the Cemetery, let me tell you a little secret, BEWARE OF THE HILLS. It was, fittingly, not originally meant as a tourist attraction but, in time, more and more people have come to pay their respects. Considering that the original plans were not drawn to accommodate the masses, it is full of hills. Mum and I conjectured that half of the grave sites must have been tourists who had keeled over from heat-stroke. Nevertheless, it was amazing. The changing of the guard was a rather interesting ceremony. A little too much gun clapping, order yelling, metered marching, high saluting, ceremonious pomp for my taste but, if that is all to show the proper respect, so be it.

Day two in DC was even better. (Ivette, if you are reading this, thank you so much! We all had a fantastic time and would like to thank you sincerely for spending the day with us. We felt truly privileged.) Before meeting up with Ivette, we saw a band shooting a music video in front of the White House. We later learned that it was Locksley. I’d never heard of them but who knows, maybe they are really good? (If any of you have heard of them let me know!) Anyways, when we met up with Ivette, she took us on a tour of the White House’s East Wing. It was incredible to think that we were in the home and work place of the leader of the greatest nation in the world. Later in the day, we went back to the White House in order to watch Mr. President take off in Marine One. (his huge helicopter) That evening, Ivette had reserved the White House bowling alley. So we got to go bowling (horridly I might add) in our own private, 2-lane alley. Pretty cool experience if you ask me. Overall, I actually prefer Washington, DC to New York City. *gasp* I love New York and its high rise buildings and street vendors but, DC has so much more history and surprisingly, a much better sky-line. Wednesday, we’re going to Mount Vernon (home of George Washington) and then driving… a long way. :) This was a very long post.